Schoop mimes a play

[stewthornley]

Some of you may have seen this from Wednesday's Angels at Minnesota game.

 

Shohei Ottani hit a comebacker to Jake Odorizzi, who jogged toward first and may an underhanded toss that C. J. Cron didn't react to.  The ball went by him, and Ohtani went to second.  Here are a couple links to the play:

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/did-twins-infielder-trick-his-own-teammates-into-committing-a-ridiculous-error-233250569.html

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/bp1k0h/cj_cron_doesnt_realize_odorizzi_fielded_a/

 

I gave Cron an error (with an assist to Ohtani).  The next day I heard that Cron's confusion was caused by second-baseman Jonathan Schoop miming the play, sort of like what Starlin Castro did a few years ago:

 

https://www.mlb.com/video/must-c-castro-copies-bryant-c104783183

 

 

With Castro's mime, it didn't cause a misplay although first-baseman Anthony Rizzo wasn't happy about it.

I looked at the play again from a couple different sources and wondered if it would be appropriate to switch the error to Schoop (I still had about three hours to do so).

 

I looked at the rule:

 

Rule 9.12(a)(1) Comment reads, ". . . The official scorer shall charge an error to a fielder who causes another fielder to misplay a ball—for example, by knocking the ball out of the other fielder’s glove. On such a play, when the official scorer charges an error to the interfering fielder, the official scorer shall not charge an error to the fielder with whom the other fielder interfered."

 

The part about knocking the ball out of another fielder's glove is given as an example of such interference, but it doesn't limit it to physical contact.

 

I checked with Elias Sports Bureau and was told that this should not constitute an error on Schoop, so I left the call alone.

 

It was one of the more interesting plays I've seen.  No runs scored, so the Twins have been able to joke about it, and Cron has been a good sport even though he ended up with an error on his record for it.  I'm guessing that this might end players horsing around with miming plays.  Or not.

 

Stew

[nicksaviking]

Yeah, funny stuff Stu. I can say that because the Twins still won. 

 

I wonder what caused Cron to take his eye off the ball? It looked like he was playing close enough to the bad that he didn't need to sprint back to cover it.

[Joe A. Preusser]

Was it horsing around or was he trying to fake out a runner? I'd say keep the horsing around to the dugout or not during game time. If he was trying to deke a runner into making a base running mistake that's another story.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I wonder what caused Cron to take his eye off the ball? It looked like he was playing close enough to the bad that he didn't need to sprint back to cover it.

Yeah, Odorizzi's play was right in front of him. So I think an error on Cron is definitely more appropriate than on Schoop.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Was it horsing around or was he trying to fake out a runner? I'd say keep the horsing around to the dugout or not during game time. If he was trying to deke a runner into making a base running mistake that's another story.

There was no one on base, so no runners to deke.

[Joe A. Preusser]

There was no one on base, so no runners to deke.

That's really odd. I have never heard of a major leaguer clowning around during live play action. Could he have been trying to confuse the batter running to first? Still makes no sense.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

That's really odd. I have never heard of a major leaguer clowning around during live play action. Could he have been trying to confuse the batter running to first? Still makes no sense.

Stew posted a link to another example by Starlin Castro, also no runners on base:

https://www.mlb.com/video/must-c-castro-copies-bryant-c104783183

 

That was a bit more "clowning" as it was right in the first baseman's line of vision.

 

I suspect Schoop wasn't "clowning" per se but just followed through to occupy himself for a moment, and didn't expect to be seen by Cron.

[ScrapTheNickname]

Schoop made a terrible blunder that turned out okay because no one scored that inning. It should never happen again.

[Cornholio]

I have seen Adrian Beltre and others on the rangers do this kind of thing, usually on pop ups where the second infielder is mimicking the catch. I would have pulled Schoop right then. If Odo had to make a quick throw Cron could have been hurt.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Yeah, funny stuff Stu. I can say that because the Twins still won. 

 

I wonder what caused Cron to take his eye off the ball? It looked like he was playing close enough to the bad that he didn't need to sprint back to cover it.

 

In watching the video, it's pretty easy to understand. Cron was playing back, and when the ball was hit, he jogged toward first. He looked to the base and then scanned back and saw Schoop "fielding the ball ,bringing it to his waist and starting to throw." That's about the time he saw the actual ball going by his head. I think it's funny. 

 

https://twitter.com/Jomboy_/status/1128730179386466304 

[Seth Stohs]

And players do that more than we know, I think. It just usually doesn't have any effect on the play. They're always working on their footwork and field and all that, in the same way that you will often see defensive players working on their swing mechanics in the field. 

[Riverbrian]

I LOVE BASEBALL!!! 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

In watching the video, it's pretty easy to understand. Cron was playing back, and when the ball was hit, he jogged toward first. He looked to the base and then scanned back and saw Schoop "fielding the ball ,bringing it to his waist and starting to throw." That's about the time he saw the actual ball going by his head. I think it's funny. 

Cron shouldn't have to look at the base in that situation, though. At least not to the extent that he misses the pitcher fielding the ball. It's right in front of him.

 

Even if Schoop didn't do anything, Cron having to turn his head toward second base to look at Schoop already had the potential to mess up the play.

[Steve Lein]

I got thrown at once in a game after I had "mimed" turning a double play as the second baseman when our SS booted a hard hit ball far enough toward foul territory that I thought the runner could have took third if he kept running.

 

My "mime" play made the runner slide into second base, so mission accomplished keeping him from third as far as I was concerned.

 

He got really mad when he figured out what happened. I didn't get the outrage, never had heard of such unwritten rule (I don't think there is one?!). I told him, "Well, I just outsmarted you, point to me as far as I'm concerned." 

 

He proceeded to curse me out and said he'd take me out maliciously if I ever tried that again. He was also a current Minnesota Gopher at the time. Other guys on his team made a point the rest of the game to go after me on the base paths whether me on offense or defense, including the first baseman attempting a Kent Hrbek pull-me-off-of-first-base-move on a pickoff throw, but it really was more of a try to shove me to the ground type thing. I scored later that inning and the catcher shoved me as I crossed home plate too.

 

I always remember a play in one of the Twins world series too. I forget if it was the 2B or SS (someone can probably tell me who it was) but they deked receiving a relay throw from the outfield and it kept a runner from scoring.

 

Although these are the opposite of what happened here, as far as I'm concerned they were smart plays that worked so never saw a problem with what I did.

[mickeymental]

in high school and apparently just for kicks, steve carlson of slapshot fame (and an amazing southpaw pitcher) used to field comebackers and throw a knuckleball to first.

[zenser]

 

I always remember a play in one of the Twins world series too. I forget if it was the 2B or SS (someone can probably tell me who it was) but they deked receiving a relay throw from the outfield and it kept a runner from scoring.

 

 

 

Game 7 - Lonnie Smith doesn't pick up the ball that was hit to the OF and Knoblauch fakes a throw to Gagne.  Smith stops just beyond second and finally picks up where the ball is and advances to third.  He doesnt score.  Games goes to extra innings and it turns out kind cool for the home team.

 

[70charger]

 

 

I always remember a play in one of the Twins world series too. I forget if it was the 2B or SS (someone can probably tell me who it was) but they deked receiving a relay throw from the outfield and it kept a runner from scoring.

 

Yeah, it was '91. I remember that, but for some reason I thought the runner was David Justice. It was Lonnie Smith. From Wikipedia, about the eighth inning: 

 

 

Neither team threatened again until the eighth inning. The top of the inning included a critical defensive play, with Smith on first and nobody out. Braves manager Bobby Cox called for a hit and run with Pendleton at the plate. Pendleton responded by lacing a double into the left-center field gap, but Smith made his second baserunning mistake of the series. As he rounded second, Smith momentarily hesitated and as a result of that, he was forced to stop at third. While he was running, Greg Gagne and Knoblauch tried to fake Smith out by pretending to start a 6-4-3 double play. Smith claimed he did not fall for the decoy, but instead was watching to see if Gladden or Puckett would make the catch.

 

Ninja'd

[Doomtints]

Lesson learned for Cron. Keep your eye on the ball.

[Doomtints]

 

I always remember a play in one of the Twins world series too. I forget if it was the 2B or SS (someone can probably tell me who it was) but they deked receiving a relay throw from the outfield and it kept a runner from scoring.

 

The Twins did that a couple of times in 91. I was hoping they would do it in the WS.

[Mr. Brooks]

The Twins did that a couple of times in 91. I was hoping they would do it in the WS.

They did, as cited above. It is the one play that stands out the most in my memory of that historic game 7.

[Nine of twelve]

Plain and simple, that play in Game 7 of the 1991 WS won the game and the series for the Twins.